Tap-hole bushing and plug



. (N0 Model.)

H. A. RUETER. `TAP HOLE RUSHING AND PLUG.

Petented Peb. 12, 1884.

.e e e e /n/...Ina//f .2, El rd/m im 4.7/

ee -E Ll UNITED STATES lPATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. RUETER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TAP-HOLE BUSHING AND PLUG.

SPECIFICATIN forming part of Letters lEatentA No. 293,278, datedFebruary 12, 1884.

' Application lled February 26, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. RUETER, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand Gommonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Bushings and Stop- I pers for Tap-Holes in Casks for Aleand Beer,

' cape of the contents of the cask, and preserve from injury byuse thefaucet, the bushing, or

the tap-hole when no bushing isused; and it Vconsists in making the holethrough the bushing to be inserted in a tap-hole, or ofthe taphole, ifno bushing is used, one-halfofitslength next the outside of the Caskinform of a conefrustum, or iu the form of a frustum or zone of aspheroid, increasing in diameter from the middle, or the line where thechange of form begins,`toward the outer end, and the other half of itslength next the inner side headpiece or stave of the cask in the form ofa cylinder having at its extreme inner end a short bevel from the insidesurface to the outside surface of the bushing, or, if no bushing isused, a bevel in the wood of the cask; and in making the stopper with anoutside form about half its length at the outer end a conel'rustum or afrustum or zone of a spheroid, and about half its length at the innerend in form of a cylinder, and with a `chamber in the center of itsouter endlarge enough in diameter to admit the end of a faucet, and asdeep as the line across it, where the cone or spheroid frustum and thecylinder forms meet, and with a narrow cut around its circumference,about opposite the line mentioned, perpendicular to its central axialline, and on or nearly on a plane with' the bottom ofthe chamber, andextending about half-way from the outer surface of the stopper to thebottom of the chamber.

In the drawings annexed, Figure 1 rshows a vertical sectional edge viewof the metallic bushing, with its outer end in the form of acone-frustum. Fi g. 2 shows the same, with its outer end in form of aspheroid frustum, and the tap-hole stopper in it. Fig. 3 shows avertical sectional view of the stopper, and the chamber in the center ofits outer end, and the Fig. 3, with the spheroid-i'rustum form. Fig. 5shows a section of a head or stave piece of a cask, a metallic bushingin it, a section of the outer endof the stopper, the inner end of thestopper broken off and pushed out of the bushing, and a faucet driven toits place in the bushing and in the wooden packing formed by the outerchambered end of the stopper. Fig. 6 shows a device for use in placingthe stopper or plug in its place in the tap-hole, or in the bushing inthe hole made for it.

a is the metallic bushing.

cf is the cone-frustum-shaped end of the bushing.

c2 is the spheroid-frustum-shaped outer end4 of the hole throughbushing. i

c is the cylinder-shaped end of the hole through bushing.

a is the bevel on the inner end of the bushino'.

ad is the cylindrical-shaped end of the taphole stopper.

a is the spheroid-frustu11i-shaped outer end of the tap-hole stopper.

aT is the` cone-frustum-shapcd outer end of the tap-hole stopper.

as is a transverse cut in the stopper entirely around its circumferenceon a line in or nearly in the plane of the bottom of the chamber in theouter end of it, the depth of which is such as to leave about one-eighthto OnesiXteenth of an inch of uncut wood between it and the bottom ofthe chamber. The purpose of` this transverse cut is to so nearly severthe plug in the middle into two parts that when the faucet is driveninto its place it will break the end of the stopper off from the outerchambered end of it, and force the inner end of it into the cask.

c shows the wall of the chamber c", after lthe inner end of the tap-holestopper is broken from it by drawing the faucet into its place.

c shows the expansion of the inner end of the stopper, `which the bevelVon the inner end of the bushing or tap-hole admits,`and which forms ahead, which is pressed against the cone-frustum form. Fig. t shows thesame as IOC) the pressure within the cask.

c is the wood of the head-piece or stave of f the cask.

c2 is the entering end ofthe faucet.

c3 is the chamber in the center of the outer end of the stopper. rIhischamber will be of a diameter to admit the entering end of the faucet,generally about three-quarters of the diameterof the cylindrical end ofthe stopper, and its depth will reach vabout to the line of meeting ofthe cone or spheroid frustum and cylinder forms of the outside of thestopper. The object of the central chamber in the outer end of thestopper is to allowthe faucet to enter into the stopper about half ofthelength of the stopper, and to form a packing around the faucet toprevent its coming in contact with the bushing, or with the tap-hole, ifno bushing is lused.

c* is a follower, the smaller part of which is of a diameter which willallow it to enter the chamber in the cuter end of the stopper, and reachto and against the b ottom of the chamber, so that the shoulders formedby the larger end of the follower will rest on and against the outer endof the stopper. The purpose for which this follower is used is to drivethe stopper to its place in the bushing or tap-hole.

If no metallic bushing is used, the` tap-hole .will be reaincd out withan instrument suitable for that purpose, so as to give the inside of itthe form described as the inside form of the bushing. When the stopperis driveninto its place in the bushing, the inner end of it willimmediately expand iii the bevel in the inner end of the bushing ortaphole, so that it cannot be forced out by the pressure inside thecask.

When the faucet is to be put into place for use in the cask, theentering end being placed in the chamber c, a forcible blow of a hammeron the outer end of the faucet will send it to its place, breaking offthe inner end of the stopper and carrying it into the cask, the walls ofthe chamber c3, which form the packing a9 between the faucet and theinside of the bushing, will be retained between the faucet and thebushing, and will prevent the escape of fluids from the cask. W'hen thecask is empty and to be filled again, the faucet will be loosened andwithdrawn, and the wooden packing a will be split and drawn out, and anew stopper will be inserted. l If the tap-hole stopper is made with thegrain of the Wood transversely across it, the transverse cut es may bedispensed with, as the cylindrical end of the stopper will readily splitoff from the cone-frustum-shaped end when the faucet is driven in.

I am aware of the several patents -for b ungs heretofore issued toPentlarge, Fountain, Pentlarge and Hursch, Borst, Pentlarge, Brown,

Shaw, and II. H. Rueter; but I do not claim anything described andclaimed by eitherl of them, or by any others; but

c I do claim as new and my inventionl. The combination of a Cask havinga taphole of afrustum of conical or spheroidal forni about half thelength of the hole from the outer end of it, and of cylindrical form theremainder of the length of the hole to the inner end thereof, and atap-hole stopper of a forni corresponding lto the form of the taphole,substantiallyas set forth.'

2. A tap-hole stopper having the chamber c3 and the transverse cut c5,substantially as set forth. Y

3. A cask having a tap-hole providedwith the 'short bevel c" at itsinner end, substantially as described,v for the purpose set forth.

'HENRY A. RUETER.

Vitnesses:

CHs. HOUGHTON, FREDK. L. HoUGH'roN.

